Food Insecurity Persists in the IGAD Region: Immediate scaled-up humanitarian response is required. 21 September 2021, Nairobi, Kenya: An estimated 31.4 million people across the IGAD region were classified in crisis or worse (IPC Phase 3+) levels of acute food insecurity in 2020. This figure represents 20% of the global 155 million people that faced food insecurity and required urgent action in 2020. 2021 projections point to a grimmer situation, where between 36.7 to 37.2 million people will likely face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), largely due to conflict, weather extremes, and persistent economic shocks (including the socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19)

SOMALIA - On 14/09, WB published the Somalia Economic Update, highlighting that Somalia’s economy is rebounding from the “triple shock” that ravaged the country in 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme flooding, and the locust infestation. Real GDP growth is projected at 2.4 percent in 2021. This growth momentum is expected to continue in the medium term and reach pre-COVID-19 levels of 3.2 percent in 2023. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/09/14/somalia-s-economy-rebounding-from-triple-shock?cid=WBW_AL_whatsnew_EN_EXT

WB – Climate Change and Migration: On 13/09, the WB released the second part of its Groundswell report. A key finding is that climate change could force 216 million people across six world regions to move within their own countries by 2050. Hotspots of internal migration could emerge by 2030 and intensify by 2050. The report deploys a scenario-based approach that allows for identifying internal climate in- and out-migration hotspots, namely the areas from which people are expected to move and areas with better conditions to build new livelihoods. It also sets the reduction of global emissions and promotion of inclusive and resilient development could reduce the scale of climate migration by 80%. Find the full report here [https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36248] and an infographic here [https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/infographic/2021/09/13/groundswell-acting-on-internal-climate-migration].

387 new asylum-seekers arrived in August, bringing the total number of new arrivals between 1 January and 31 August 2021 to 4,225, 75% are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

From 1 January to 31 July 2021, 100 cases comprising 385 individuals were submitted to resettlement countries. A total of 259 individuals have departed on resettlement to Sweden, Canada, Finland, Netherlands and the USA.

In August, 3,410 PoCs were supported with general Cash Based Interventions. Cumulatively, since 1 January 2021, 10,493 refugees have received CBI assistance.

1,522 emergency shelters to host 7,600 displaced persons have been completed in North Kivu province.

UNHCR and partners facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 829 Burundian and Rwandan refugees to their country of origin.

UNHCR distributed mobile phones to over 1,000 refugee families in Haut Katanga, Lualaba and Tanganyika provinces, which will allow them to receive electronic payments.

A new healthcare centre was built and equipped in Nganza, Kasai Central province.